Beating a Sword into a Plowshare
circa 2014 Common Era
B. Welling Hall, Plowshares Professor of Peace Studies, Earlham College
Beauty
From James Hillman, A Terrible Love of War
Q. How are we to recover from the horror of war, death, destruction?
A. Though intense aesthetic engagement that opens the heart to beauty.
From Art to Politics
“Art is the fountainhead from which political discourse, beliefs about politics, and consequent actions ultimately spring…
Art should be recognized as a major and integral part of the transaction that engenders political behavior.”
Murray Edelman
Art/Museums: International Relations Where We Least Expect It
We can enter into situations or spaces or knowledges that differ from our usual contexts for thinking about art or international relations and, instead of refusing their relevance to our area, engage with their differences creatively.
- Christine Sylvester
How Much Did These Shears Cost?
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Materials (knives) Supplies Labor
A “Real Life” Swords into Plowshares Budget
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Cost of making CW Cost of destroying CW
Why Make Art?
• Art is a way of breaking down established categories and values.
• Art “works” when it entices the viewer to both feel and think about a theme that matters.
• “Art expresses an ambiguity that provokes, not an explicitness that terminates wonder and analysis.”
Murray Edelman
Lessons for Teaching and Learning
• The joy of demonstration and observation. Learning with concrete examples.
• The reward of trial and error in a laboratory setting. • First success does not mean that student fully grasps
process. • I need to be able to make mistakes in order to learn:
developing expertise is developing a repertoire for recovering from mistakes.
• Empowerment through transformation (I can make things that did not previously exist; I can change my material world.)
Questions for Contemplation and Action
• How much does it cost to convert “swords” into “plowshares”?
• What is required physically, spiritually, emotionally for this conversion?
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